REDRESS Addresses Critical Issues for Victims at the Annual Assembly of ICC State Parties
On 8 December, REDRESS will join civil society organisations in The Hague for the annual session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP).
Serving as the governing body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) the ASP meets in full plenary once a year to discuss and decide upon matters key to the future functioning of the ICC.
This year, the session will take place from 4-14 December in New York.
REDRESS will be monitoring sessions and interacting with delegates to advocate for the rights of victims.
We will also co-host the following side events (participation in-person only):
A Victim-Centred ICC: Navigating Challenges to Realising Victims’ Rights and Reparative Justice from 1998-2023
8 December 2023, 13:15-14:45 EST, Conference Room 9, UNHQ, New York, NY, USA.
Key stakeholders will lead a panel discussion and Q&A session on the rights of victims at the ICC, which were enshrined in the Rome Statute at the Court’s inception. Panellists will critically examine whether these rights are being fulfilled before the ICC and in the domestic jurisdictions of States Parties. The panel will discuss the successes as well as challenges that victims face in exercising their rights at the Court and explore strategies to overcome these obstacles. The panel will also highlight roles and responsibilities of States, the ICC and civil society in ensuring that the primary beneficiaries of international criminal justice remain at the forefront of the Court’s policy and proceedings.
The event is hosted by REDRESS, the Trust Fund for Victims, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Center for Multi-Generational Legacies of Trauma (ICMGLT), and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) and sponsored by Sponsored by Denmark, Finland, and Austria.
The event will include remarks from
- Vibeke Pasternak Jørgensen, Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
- Mazen Darwish, FIDH Secretary General and Director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
- Ambassador Paivi Kaukoranta, Director National Security Authority, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
- David Donat Cattin, Adjunct Professor of International Law at NYU Center for Global Affairs and member of the Advisory Council at the International Center for Multi Generational Legacies of Trauma will discuss the challenges to the realisation of victims’ rights at the ICC.
The two panels will be composed by:
Meaningful Participation, Representation, Information
- Calixto Ávila Rincón, PROVEA
- Mossaad Mohamed Ali, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies
- Katherine Gallagher, The Center for Justice & Accountability
Effective Reparations
- Nadia Volkova, Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group (ULAG)
- Deborah Ruiz Verduzco, ICC Trust Fund for Victims
- Dr Yael Danieli, International Center for MultiGenerational Legacies of Trauma (ICMGLT)
Alejandra Vicente, Head of Law at REDRESS, will reflect on the main points of the discussions and discuss action points.
2. Paving the Way to Justice: The Role of Civil Society in Documenting International Crimes
11 December 2023, 13:15-14:45 EST, Conference Room 11, UNHQ, New York, NY, USA.
REDRESS, DIGNITY, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) will host a panel discussion on the vital role of civil society in documenting international crimes – particularly in countries where options for formal investigations are limited.
The aims of this event are to raise awareness of the invaluable role that civil society provides in the documentation of human rights violations, particularly in areas inaccessible to the ICC, and to give an overview of the challenges and best practices involved in documentation. The event will explore the factors that contribute to strong and successful collaboration in the field by focusing on strategies that enhance collaboration between formal investigative bodies and civil society organizations.
To accomplish these goals, the event has invited civil society partners in Belarus, Libya, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine, as well as the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, to participate as panellists.
The event is sponsored by Denmark, Netherlands, UK, and the US Office of Global Criminal Justice.
The event will include remarks from
Dr Bahia Tahzib-Lie Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York.
The panel Discussion moderated by Mazen Darwish, FIDH Secretary General and General Director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
Panellists will include Mossaad Mohamed Ali, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, Sudan; Giulia Marini, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Palestine; Merna Nasralla, Lawyers for Justice in Libya, Libya; Tatsiana Ziniakova, Human Constanta, and Victoria Fedorova (pre-recorded statement), International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus, Belarus; Gennadiy Tokarev, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Ukraine; Jonathan Agar, Special Assistant to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor.
Photo: Matias Bercovic/CICC.